Dark Space: Dark Space, Book 1

Ten years ago the Sythians invaded the galaxy with one goal: to wipe out the human race. Now the survivors are hiding in the last human sector of the galaxy: Dark Space--once a place of exile for criminals, now the last refuge of mankind.

Excelsior

The year is AD 2790. With space elevators and giant orbital fleets hovering over Earth, open war looks inevitable, and people are anxious to get away. The lines are drawn, with the Confederacy in the East and the First World Alliance in the West. In hopes of finding a refuge from the looming war, the Alliance is sending Captain Alexander de Leon to explore an Earth-type planet, code-named Wonderland, but at the last minute before launch, a Confederate fleet leaves orbit on a trajectory that threatens both the mission and Alliance sovereignty.

Metal Boxes - At the Edge

Ensign Stone's goals were to make his way in the Empire's navy, make his family proud of him, and make love to his fiancée. No matter which way he turned, someone was conspiring against him. Disgraced and humiliated, he is court-martialed, discharged, and abandoned. Accepting what he thinks is a lowly busy-work position on a beat up old family business space freighter travelling at the edge of human space, he hopes to earn back the trust and respect he lost.

Koban: Conflict and Empire

The Galactic Federation is confronted by the vast and implacable Thandol Empire, which has coveted the former Krall region of space for eons, a region of space now occupied and claimed by the upstart Kobani. Outnumbered, they face an opponent who possesses new and deadly weapons. An enemy that had thousands of years to develop the means to take on the Krall Empire, and now present the supermen with a weapon that turns their greatest genetic asset into their greatest weakness.

Star Carrier: Lost Colonies, Book 3

Earth builds her first war fleet! The greatest warships ever constructed in known space rise up one by one, soon dominating our skies. They strike fear into the hearts of every citizen and rebel colonist alike. Captain William Sparhawk, the very man who convinced the secretive Council to build this terrifying fleet, now has doubts about the project. What is their exact mission? How could anyone have built these huge ships so quickly? And, most puzzling of all, what's happening out at the isolated laboratory complex on Phobos, Mars' lopsided moon?

Earth Alone: Earthrise, Book 1

They came from deep space. They came to destroy us. Fifty years ago bloodthirsty aliens devastated the Earth. Most of humanity perished. We fell into darkness. But now we rise from the ashes. Now we fight back. Marco Emery was born into the war. After his mother is killed, he joins the Human Defense Force, Earth's ragtag army. Emery must survive basic training, become a soldier, and finally face the aliens in battle. Against the alien onslaught, Earth stands alone. But we will fight. We will rise. We will win.

The Siege of Earth: The Ember War, Book 7

Only an ember of humanity survived the first Xaros invasion. Now the Xaros return to deliver the final blow to Earth and her defenders. A moon carrying an armada of Xaros drones unleashes its deadly cargo on the solar system. Fortress Mars stands between the enemy and an ill-defended Earth. While the battle rages over the red planet, the Breitenfeld must launch a desperate mission to Pluto to cut off enemy reinforcements. Earth stands on the brink of ruin, and humanity needs every hero it can find to turn back the tide of destruction.

The Battle of the Void: The Ember War, Book 6

The Xaros drove humanity to the edge of extinction. Now, an immense alien fleet is on the way to Earth to end the human race. Earth's defenses are in shambles. The planet needs time to ready for the next invasion, time it doesn't have. The Xaros are en route to Earth, and it will take a daring mission to buy Earth the chance it needs to survive the next attack. While a fleet of brave men and women prepare to face down the Xaros, the Breitenfeld travels to an ancient world where the key to ultimate victory lies buried beneath the crimes of the enigmatic Malal.

Counterstrike: Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 3

Captain Jackson Wolfe never thought he'd see the end of the Phage War in his lifetime. The enemy was too powerful, too numerous, and utterly determined to exterminate humanity. But the appearance of a new ally in the fight has changed all of that. For the first time since the original incursion, Wolfe thinks that maybe there's a chance to stop their implacable enemy before they have the chance to wipe out any more human planets.

Rescue: Frontiers Saga Part 2: Rogue Castes, Episode 2

A leader left behind. An Alliance falling apart. Friends stranded on an enemy-held world. A chance to rediscover long-forgotten truths. The new threat will require an immediate response. But first, Jessica and the Ghatazhak must execute a daring rescue in order to secure their future. But to do so, they need the one man they have been trying to protect. The question is: Will he agree?

Hard Lessons: A Learning Experience, Book 2

Fifty years after Steve Stuart and his friends captured an alien starship, the Solar Union is a thriving interstellar power while Earth is increasingly backward and falling into barbarism. For two youngsters from Earth, the Solar Union offers the only chance they will ever have to make something of their lives.

The Lost Colony: Lost Starship Series, Volume 4

We fought the invading New Men to a standstill and defeated the alien destroyer sent to obliterate Earth. The worst should be over, but it's not. Perfect android replicas are impersonating high-level officials so trust is failing. Worse, the New Men have found allies with an impenetrable stealth technology. This time, however, Earth is going on the offensive. Admiral Fletcher is headed to C Quadrant with a Grand Fleet. He's to liberate the captured planets and find the enemy homeworld.

The Lost Fleet: Genesis

Fleet Admiral Jeremy Strong is determined to preserve the planet Gaia as the new home of the lost fleets. Unfortunately, a new and frightening danger from the destroyed Dyson Sphere threatens to undo everything he has fought for. Kazak, the AI on the Originator ship, has his own agenda. The Humans and Altons will either do as he demands or he will destroy them. Can Fleet Admiral Strong outsmart the two-million-year-old AI or is he doomed to failure?

Galactic Empire Wars: Insurrection: The Galactic Empire Wars, Book 5

The final battle between the Humans and the Zaltule is drawing near. However, the Arachnids have a secret that will ensure victory and allow them to wipe out the Human race once and for all. In the Strell Empire, former Supreme Overlord Xatul plans his return. He has amassed a fleet to take back control of the Kleese Empire. The Humans realize they need more time to prepare for the coming attack of the Zaltule. Fleet Admiral Kelly sends Seventh Fleet deep into the Kleese Empire to draw the attention of the Zaltule.

The Black Sheep: A Learning Experience, Book 3

In the wake of Earth's collapse into chaos, Captain Hoshiko Stuart made the mistake of speaking her mind - and was exiled six months from Sol to a naval base in an unexplored and uncontacted sector. Placed in command of a single squadron of starships, she expected nothing but boredom. But when she discovers an alien race threatening to exterminate all other races within the sector, Hoshiko and her squadron are drawn into a war to stop them.

The Human Factor

Captain Jason Burke is a man apart, and not just because he's the only of his kind for thousands of light-years in any direction. The changes to his body and to his genetic code have made him faster, stronger, more able to survive in his dangerous occupation...but they've also ensured that he'll never truly fit in with others of his species. He always assumed he would live and die with his crew and never lay eyes on another human again. He was wrong.

Sol: The Silver Ships Series, Book 5

Sol's warships paid the ultimate price for threatening the Haraken and New Terran worlds. Now, Haraken president Alex Racine and his Méridien partner, Renée de Guirnon, are engaged in a desperate gamble to stop a war between their worlds and United Earth's (UE) massive forces before it starts. What's Alex's grand plan? He hasn't a clue, but his people believe in him and hope he will find a way to protect them.

The Synchronicity War, Part 1

After almost a century of peaceful exploration and colonization of space, the United Earth Space Force stumbles across a shockingly xenophobic alien race that has more and better armed ships and refuses all attempts at contact. As the outgunned Space Force is driven back in battle after battle in what appears to be a war of extermination, one officer experiences precognitive visions that help him blunt the enemy onslaught, but he can't control or predict when they occur.

Aurora: CV-01: Frontiers Saga, Book 1

world recovering from a devastating plague. A brutal enemy threatening invasion. A young man seeking to escape the shadow of his father. A ship manned by a crew of fresh academy graduates. A top-secret experimental propulsion system. A questionable alliance with a mysterious green-eyed woman. What destiny has in store for the crew of the UES Aurora is far greater than any of them could ever imagine. And this is only the beginning....

Fortress Earth: Extinction Wars, Book 4

In the fourth book of the Extinction Wars series, Abaddon commands a Karg-Jelk Super Fleet bent on annihilating humanity. He's the galaxy's most ruthless strategist wielding superior technology. That includes the perfect raid-ships, able to teleport anywhere at will. Humanity has Commander Creed, and he has his Assault Troopers. He's going to take the fight to the enemy. He's buying time, learning secrets and setting up for the greatest space battle in the Orion Arm.

Star Raider

The hive-like soldiers of Social Unity invade Tanner's world. After a bitter fight, a handful of freedom fighters make it off-world to continue the resistance from space. One by one, Social Unity eliminates the freedom fighters until only Tanner and his ship are left. Then, they trap him on a luxury space station. From prison, Tanner makes a deal with a mysterious Earthman, Lord Acton. The Earthman is vague about a stealth mission on the galactic rim, but Tanner is desperate.

A Learning Experience, Book 1

When a bunch of interstellar scavengers approach Earth intending to abduct a few dozen humans and sell them into slavery in the darkest, they make the mistake of picking on Steve Stuart and his friends, ex-military veterans all. Unprepared for humans who can actually fight, unaware of the true capabilities of their stolen starships, the scavengers rapidly lose control of the ship - and their lives.

Earth Lost: Earthrise, Book 2

Earth burns. We call them the scum. They came from deep space. Creatures of claws and endless malice, they ravage the world. As the war flares, as cities crumble, Private Marco Emery and his platoon blast into space. They won one battle on Earth. Their next battle must be fought in the darkness. The scum will not rest until the last human is dead. Marco and his friends must defeat them. They must win. Or Earth will fall.

Earth Defiant: The Ember War, Book 4

Betrayed by allies. Beset by new foes. Earth faces its darkest hour since the Xaros invasion. The Toth come to the solar system with a fleet of warships, and they demand the only tool that can rekindle the human race. It falls on Marine Lieutenant Hale to negotiate a pact that will save the human race at the cost of its soul - or start a war with a race of alien predators.

Publisher's Summary

Dark space won the battle.

Humanity has just won a major victory against the invading Sythians - the first victory in the history of the war. The savage Gors have joined forces with Dark Space, and now for the first time since the invasion, it looks like the tide is turning. But the Sythians weren't defeated. Humanity just bloodied their noses. Now they know where Dark Space is, and they are coming back for revenge.

The war still rages.

Admiral Hoff Heston is secretly terrified of what's coming, but he's lulling people into a false sense of security. He needs to buy time. The people of Dark Space are not as alone as they think.

And everything is about to change.

Avilon, a lost sector of humans, has remained hidden and untouched by the Sythian invasion. No one knew they even existed, except for Admiral Heston. Now he must send a mission to contact them and get help, but what humanity finds there will change more than just the course of the war against the alien invaders…it will change the very nature of their existence.

n Dark Space: Revenge, the Sythians have come to dark space to conquer humanity. Meanwhile, Admiral Heston sends a mission to get help from the Avalonians.

The book got to a very, very slow start. Ethan and Illara’s wedding and honeymoon were pretty boring, and they didn’t really do anything for a good 2/3 of the book. When I read the first book, I thought Ethan was going to be the protagonist of the series, but he really is just a major letdown. He has zero character growth in this book (ditto with Illara). Meanwhile, Aton is sent on this secret mission to find the Aviloians, but as usual, he gets relegated to the sidelines and some occasional space combat. Captain Caldron continues to be a rather loose cannon and not a particularly good leader, especially in her analytical and decision making. Overall, all of the human characters act incredibly dumb and often can’t see the most obvious things in front of them. They also have a tendency to say “rikah…death and glory” every 5 minutes.

The novel continues down the previous course of making things worse, worse, worse, and worst with little hope., but there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

The Sythians continue to do their evil thing, and are rather flat, but at least consistent.

What saves this book is Avilon…it is a rather unique and fascinating take on an ancient society, and their technology is also amazing. When we finally meet them, and when they finally face the Sythians, things aren’t quite as predictable as one would have guessed. I just wished they would have appeared earlier in the book and saved the tedium that was the first half of the novel.

Overall, the novel had a good resolution and for once ended on a positive note. Finally the next book might be some serious matches between Avilon and the Sythians… we shall see.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I want to give a better review, but I found myself frustrated at times listening to this book, between the narrators approach to voicing the female characters as either annoyingly needy or overtly hostile, the authors inability to write credible and well-rounded female characters and dialogue, and the author's incessant need to restate information provided previously in the storyline...it became a bit tedious.

I ended up reading the end of the book instead of listening to it.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

As a man, I'm sure voicing female characters is a unique challenge, but it was perhaps the weekest part of the narration. Female characters were, for all intents and purposes, indistinguishable. They also came off as cloyingly needy or overly hostile. I think partly it was in the writing and partly in the narration, but all the female characters came off as temperamental teenage girls.

Do you think Revenge needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Based on the ending, I think it's a must. I would love to see the author work on editing some of the repetitiveness out of his contextual descriptions and focus on writing more well rounded and realistic female characters, but look forward to seeing were he takes his storyline next.